Winter Meetings

It's that time of year again. The GBL's big-wigs are in Indianapolis this week for baseball's Winter Meetings. It seems the Golden League will have a record 10 teams in action in 2010, with a pair of 5-team divisions.

Maui joins the ranks of Calgary, Chico, Edmonton, Long Beach, Orange County, St. George, Tucson, Yuma and Victoria. Representatives from each team are on hand to discuss everything from potential rule changes in a 2010 GBL to the schedule itself (which might be out by the end of the year).

One of the more popular questions asked of the Armada is about the rumored return of Jose Lima. Last season the former NL All-Star led by example from the mound as the team's opening day starter and was named a GBL All-Star for Long Beach. While his trade to Edmonton caught many off guard, the Armada -- not Edmonton -- did retain Lima's rights. So where does that leave it? Well, it seems the ball is in Lima's court. If he wants to be back, there doesn't appear to be a reason why he wouldn't be.

The organization has exercised club options for 2010 on pretty much the entire 2009 roster. As listed on the GBL website:

November 5:
Long Beach Armada: Exercised the 2010 contract options for the following players:
Chase Baran, Zach Beal, Andie Bouchie, Omar Bramasco, Matt Edgecombe, Ben Fox, Dustin Gober, Kris Honel, Brandon Howard, Daryl Jones, Rusty Jones, Jonny Kaplan, Scott Lonergan, Kiochi Misawa, David Ramirez, Dan Luyben, Justin Segal, Asif Shah, JJ Sherrill, and Scott Watson. Released the following players: OF Josh Womack, RHP Sean Buller, and OF Steve Moss.

For everyone wondering why Buller didn't officially have an option exercised, he has a different contract as a coach, but the Angry Lego Face has deep roots in Long Beach, and it's hard to see him playing or coaching anywhere else. And with his new local coaching gig, that's not likely to change.